Metal casing for building construction



April 20, 1943. F. M. zEccA METAL CASING FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed Deo. 28, 1940 .m -f Y Patented Apr.` 20, 1943 2,316,829 METAL CASING FOI'` BIILILDING CDNSTRUC- y I Frank M. Zecca, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application December 28, 1940, Serial No. 372,084

11 Claims.

This invention relates to casings for the walls of apertures in building structures, and more particularly to such casings formed from sheet metal and having square corners at each end of the head or top cross piece.

In a common practice in modern building constructions involving the use of a metal door casing, the unit has been completely assembled and the component parts welded together and shipped to the construction job as a unit. The door casing, in shipment, may be easily bent and either broken at the .corners or otherwise distorted so that it will be practically useless on the job without repair.

The present invention involves the elimination of the trouble recited above by providing a door casing which is composed of a plurality of preformed pieces which may be readily crated and shipped and iinally assembledl on the jobwith a minimum oi labor. v

A primary object of my invention is to provide a metal casing for apertures in building construction which may be shipped in a disassembled condition thus -reducing the liability of damage thereto during shipment and which may be quickly assembled at low labor cost on the job.

Another object of the invention is to provide a metal casing for apertures in building construction havingpseparate sides and a separate head but provided with means for detachably holding them in the assembled relationship,

A chief object of the invention is to provide means for locking the ends oi the side pieces to the top cross piece of a sheet metal casing on the `b, quickly and facilely, but without welding, so that the side pieces and the top cross piece can be cut to the required length suitable for each aperture. and delivered to the job for installation with a minimum of care, skill, or labor.

A further object oi' the invention is the provision of a head for sheet metal casings having the ends novelly shaped to interilt with the novelly shaped tops of the adjacent side pieces so that the head and sides are quickly and precisely'secured in the right-angularvpositions against relative sidewise movement, and the head is held against endwisemovement relatively to the sides, and the sides are held against inward movement. A further object is the provision in the foregoing structure and m combination with suitable cutaway portions in the foregoing structure, of locklng plates right-angled transversely and suitably slotted to interlock with the tops oi the sides and welded, one on each end of the head, before shipment to the job: each angle plate also having spaced lugs formed therein and lying within the hollow sheet metal plate to precisely maintain the joints between the head and the sides in exact right angular position during theerection of the casing on the job.

Other objects and advantages willappearas the description proceeds. i

Reference is made to the drawing which is a part of this specification and in which Figure 1 is a front view of the top and upper portions of the sides of a door casing. y

Figure 2 is a top view of the upper left corner.

Figure 3 is a, view on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 in the direction of the arrows but with more of the left side broken o.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 but with the top of the left side separated from the end of the cross piece and the angle plate welded on the cross piece.

Figure 5 is a left end view of the top with the 'lower portion of the side piece broken away as Well as the upper parts thereof.

Figure 6 is a perspective of the angle plate per se.

A casing formed of suitable sheet metal is placed in any aperture in a building construction for which it is measured, such as a door opening, and has a top or cross piece I0 and at each end thereof side pieces Il .and l2. The part of the building construction surrounding the casing and to which it is secured may be wood, cement, or any other suitable building'znaterial (riot shown) In cross section the metal casing is uniform except at the corners and is hollow.

A at inside panel I 3 has an intermediate lengthwise rib I l, rectangular in cross section, which provides a stop engaging the edge of a door (not shown), sides right angled bends with the edges of the panel I3 and at their inner edges connected by other right angled bends with smaller centrally extend-I ing panels I1 and I8; the latter beingconnected at their central edges by right angled bends with lengthwise flanges I9 and 2I, which are pierced at their-'outer edges with nail holes 22, provided for facilitating attachment to the'bullding structure.

The end of the top cross piece I0 has right-angular notches 23 and 24 on opposite sides cut to a depth equal-to the thickness of the sheet metal and which admit lips 25 and 26 which are continuations of the edge portions of the panel I3 on the end of the side l I. The top 21 of the panel I I on the side II between the lips 25 and 26 lies in a transverse plane removed from the ends of I5 and I6 connected bv v k the side piece is cutaway in a transverse plane so that the top 28 of the side rib I4 lies removed from the end 21 a distance equal to the inward projection of the rib I4 so that` the rib I4 of the top cross piece lies directly on the top 23 and its end engages the'edges 29 and 3l of the side panel I3 which connect the top 21 with the top 28. It is now obvious that the above defined structure checks movement of the top I toward the side II, or the sidewise or downward movement of the top I0 with reference to the side II.

A ilat plate 32 is formed with right angular transverse bend 33 at the ends of which are slots 34 and 35adapted to receive the lips 25 and 28. The corners of the plate are outback at each end and are bent outward to form spacers 36, 31, 33, and 39. Before shipment to the job'the plate 32 is secured on the end oi Athe top III inside the panel I3 by spot welding 4|so that the. bend 33 exactly ts on the end of the panel I3, and the spacers 36 and 31 touch the inside of the panels I1 and I3. Altho only the' left end ofthe top cross piece I3 is lshown in de ta'il it `will be understood that a similar plate 32 is symmetrically positioned and welded on the right end of the cross piece I0 which is .formed similarly and symmetrically with the -lei't end. It will also be understood that the top of the side piece I2 is similarly and symmetrically formed with the top of the side piece II.

Installation at the job is accomplished manui ally simply by positioning the pieces manually as shown -in Figure `1 with the free leaf of the plate 32 on the inside of the panel I3 and the lips and 26 in the slots 34 and 35. The lower end of the plate 32 may be engaged on the outside by a clip 4 2 the lower Aend of which is spot welded at 43` on the'panel I3 of the side piece II. A similar clip 42 is mounted on the inside ofpancl I3 of the side piece I2.

The joints are quickly andeasily made manually and when assembled are simple, strong, and.

rigid.

Having shown of my invention, and realizing that, in view of my disclosure omissions, substitutions and changes will readily occur to those skilledin the art, I do not limit myself to the exact form shown.

I claim:

l. A joint for interlocking the ends of a cross piece and a side piece of a hollow sheet metal casing that is uniform in cross section, each of said pieces having a flat lengthwise panel, said panel having lengthwise parallel sides joined r'ght angularly attheir inner` edges to the panel vand joined at their outer edges angularly to narrow panels which extend centrally and spaced from the rst panel, comprising an end the lips 23 and 26 a distance equal to the width of the sides II and I6 so that when the lips are in the notches, the end of the panel I3of the top said side piece against downward and sidewise movement andagainst endwise movement over said side piece, Iand a nat plate right angled transversely and secured at an end of the cross piece on the inner wall of the rst panel, said plate having side slots admitting said lips.

2. The subjectmatter of claim 1,` together" with the edges of said plate engaging the innerv walls of the parallel sides of the casing.

3. The subject-matter of claim 1, together with a spacing member on the plate and engaging the inside of the second panel on the side piece and tending to vhold the plate in engagement with the ilrst panel on the side piece.

4. The subject-matter of claim l, together withthe edges of said plate engaging the inner walls of the parallel sides of the casing, and a. member engaging the inside of the second panel and tending to hold the platein engagement with the rst panel.

5. The subject-matter of clair 1, together with the corners of the plate being turned outf ward to form spacers adapted to vlie between and described one embodiment the rst panel and the second panels. -1

6. The subject-matter of claim l, together with a clip secured on the inside of the side piece and engaging said plate to hold it against said side piece.

'7. A joint for vinterlocking the ends of a cross piece and a side piece of a hollow sheet metal casing that is uniform in cross section, each of said pieces having a ilat lengthwise panel formed with a lengthwise rib to serve as a stop for a door or the like, said panel having lengthwise parallel sides j oined right angularly at their inner edges to the panel and joined at `their outer edges angularly to`narrow panels which extend centrally and spaced from the first panel,v

comprising an end of the cross piece being in a plane .transverse to its length but having recesses atvboth sides, and the adjoining end of a side piece being in a plane transverse to its length except the central portion of the rst panel terminates in a line removed from the- A end of said sidevpiece a distance substantially `equal to the width of said angularly located sides of the casing and-the top of the side piece rib terminates in a plane removed from the adjacent end'of the central portion of the panel a distance substantially equal to they thickness of the rib, the side portions of said panel forming lips continuing beyond said central terminal line of said panel and seating in the cross piece recesses, whereby said cross piece rests upon and engages flat surfaces of said side piece and is held against downward and sidewise movement vand against inward endwise movement relative to said side piece, and a member extending downwardly at right angles to said cross piece and engaging an inner `surface of said side piece to prevent outward endwise movement of said cross piece relatively to said side piece.

8. The subject-matter .of claim' 7, together with said narrow panels terminating in two outwardly and angularly extending flanges engageable with the building structure.

9. A joint construction for interlocking the ends of a cross piece and a side piece of a hollow sheet metal casing that is uniform in cross section, each of said pieces having an inner lengthwise panel, lengthwise parallel sides substantially at right angles thereto, and narrowrouter panels extending centrally from said sides. andspaced from said first panel, comprising an end of the cross piece being in a transverse plane but having a recess at each side and the-central portion of the adjoining end oi.' a side piece terminating in a line conforming-to the face of the corresponding portion of the cross piece, the ends of said line heing spaced from the ends of the sides of said side piece a distance substantially equal to the width of the sides of the casing, the side portions of the inner panel of said side piece forming lips seating in said recesses, whereby when said parts are assembled said cross piece rests upon said side piece andv is held against downward and sidewise movev ment and against inward endwise movement relative'to said side piece; and a member extending downwardly at a right angle to said cross piece and engaging an innersurface of said side piece to prevent outward endwise movement of said cross piece relatively to'said side piece.

10. -A joint construction for interlocking the ends of a cross piece and a side piece of a hollow sheet metal casing that is uniform in cross section, each of said pieces having an inner lengthwise panel, lengthwise parallel sides substantially at right angles thereto, and narrow outer panelsextending centrally from said sides and spaced from saidl irst panel, comprising an end of the cross piece being in a transverse plane but having a recess at each side and the central portion of the adjoining end of a side piece terzninating in a line conforming tothe face of the corresponding portion of the cross piece, the ends of said line being spaced from the ends of the sides of said side piece a distance substantially equal to the width ol' the sides ofthe casing, the side portions of the inner panel of said side piece forming'lips seating inv said re from and removably engaging anrinner surface of said side piece to prevent Aoutward endwise movement of said cross piece relatively to said side piece.

l1. In a joint construction for interlocking the ends of 'a cross piece and a. side piece of a hollow sheet metal casing that is uniform in cross section. each of said pieces having an inner lengthwise face, lengthwise sides, and outer panels extending centrally from said sides and spaced from said face: the combination with said pieces of a iiat plate right angled ltransversely and secured at an endof said cross piece on the inside wall of said face and engageable with the inside wall ofthe face of said side piece, the side edges of the plate engaging the inner walls of the sides of. both said pieces when the parts are assembled and the corners of the plate being turned outward to form spacers lying between the face andthe'outer vpanels of both said pieces and engaging said outer panels.

FRANK M. ZECCA. 

